Snow Queen

flaw and strength of most Heroes. In that, The Tradition was working for her.

Ilmari nodded. “Being able to do things at a distance — that is most useful.”

Kaari also trusted her, probably because Kaari's nature was constructed on trust. Annukka was the only one more reserved, and for someone like Annukka, only time would help. That was fine. She suspected that they thoroughly understood each other.

“The Snow Witch, at least, does not seem to use mirror-magic, so despite having my name, she does not seem to be using powers like mine. This means I can probably continue to watch her.” She hesitated, then added, “From all that I can see, she has learned all she knows from books, and has never ventured outside the magics associated with ice, snow and cold.” There. For a Wise Woman, a Wonder-smith and a Warrior-Mage, she had just delivered an enormously important piece of information. “I am not sure she can detect magic if it is not associated with those things. And I am also not sure she is looking very hard for magical opposition. She seems very…” she hesitated “… tired, is the only word I have for this. As if she has been doing this for too long.”

Ilmari pursed his lips. “Still, it does not do to take risks — ”

“No,” she agreed. “It does not. I do not use magic if I do not have to. And I am not going to underestimate this foe. I know that I have not sensed anyone searching for magic since we fought the Icehart — ”

“Nor have I,” Ilmari was quick to say, as Lemminkal and Annukka both shook their heads. “But in that we may simply have had great good luck that we cannot count on. Any magic that we use from now on, should be small and personal, and as far from ice, snow and cold as can be. There is no point in shouting our presence for all the world to hear.”

Relieved, Aleksia nodded, and was going to leave it at that. But Annukka added, rather too casually, “But Aleksia can shape-shift, too.”

Bother. I was hoping to surprise them. She sensed that her mirror-magic did not much impress Ilmari with its practical application to their current problems, and she did not seem to have much that was useful in fighting the Snow Witch. She had been thinking she might be able to set him off balance by transforming in front of them.

Ilmari raised a bushy eyebrow, and winced a little as the skin of his forehead wrinkled.

“And you intended to tell us of this, when?”

“Soon enough,” she replied crossly. “Since I was going to shift to a bird to scout ahead when we leave.” She was rather put out, actually. She had been hoping to astonish the men at least a little.

“Speaking of leaving…” Annuka glanced over the camp meaningfully. “It really is time we were going.”

“Then I will hunt and scout a little ahead,” Aleksia told them, eager enough to get out of the packing up and cleaning up. “I will bring back some game to add to our stores. You will be a while organizing things.”

“More than a while,” Ilmari grumbled a little. “Let me pack the sledge, if you please. It is a wonder you didn't turn over a dozen times, top-heavy as it is — ”

Annuka threw up her hands. “By all means — since you are so much more expert at such things!”

They eyed each other with the resentment only two strong personalities looking for ascendancy could show. Before the exchange got heated, Aleksia made the transformation and flung herself into the sky.

She had chosen the Gyrfalcon this time, because among other things, she wanted to hunt. Urho was a good fellow, but there were five of them now, and he would be hard-pressed to feed them all. With the Gyrfalcon form she was able to get very high indeed, and the bird's keen sight enabled her to see things very, very far beneath her. While she could not take down a deer — well, she could, if she was very lucky and very clever, but it was unlikely — there were plenty of things she could kill.

Finally she found what she had hoped for: a flock of geese fitfully dozing on the surface of a completely frozen lake. She studied them from above. She was white, against a blue sky swirled with plumes of cloud. She was much harder to see than, say, an eagle. They were not aware of her.

This would have to be carefully done. She would have to do the work of a full cast of Falcons, but if all went well, she would be able to take down two geese at least, and possibly four. One would feed all of them dinner — except Urho, and he could and would hunt for himself.

Now one of the pastimes that she had enjoyed with the Court in the days when she was Princess Aleksia had been falconry. Well, not precisely with the Court — she had preferred to go out with the serious hunters, her father's chief falconer and his men and the few — mostly older — men and women who took the sport with great gravitas. Now everything she had learned from that good man would stand her in good stead.

But this would take care, planning and exquisite timing.

She could do this.

She set herself up carefully, choosing her first target, one of the birds with its head under its wing. This goose would have to wake up, and then get her direction, before she could even begin to try to escape. And a Falcon's attack was all about fractions of moments. If Aleksia did this right, there would be no time for the goose to do more than awaken, and her next target would still be scrambling to escape when she hit it.

When she thought she had everything thought through as perfect as could be, she took a long, deep breath, folded her wings and dove.

She had set herself up so that she dove out of the sun, taloned feet tucked tight to her body, wings clamped down hard. The geese literally did not see her until she was practically on them. Then with a chorus of panicked honks, and an explosion of pinions, they tried to make their escape. She kept her focus on the one chosen as her target. It had thrown up its head, eyes still a little sleep-dazed, and was looking for where the attacker was. She was practically atop it. At that last minute her feet shot out —

But she did not have those talons extended. Instead, they were curled into small, hard fists, and as she closed with her quarry, she lashed out with those fists. She felt the shock as her feet impacted the back of the goose's head, felt the transmitted shock in her legs as she broke its neck and shattered the back half of her quarry's head. The goose flopped to the snow; she used the momentum of the impact to bounce up, and snapped her wings open to claw for height again. The Raptor's wonderful eyes scanned the panicking geese below. More than half of them still did not know what was wrong. One simply stood there, craning his neck, still trying to see where the attacker was —